Gray & Yellow

Currently one of my favorite color combos. As seen here on my lovely model.



Cropped pants/capris/long shorts/whatever you want to call them were whipped out the night before an exciting day at the zoo. I had to actually rip out the seam at the waist during breakfast to tighten the elastic. Big girl panties don't take up as much space as the diaper! (Hurray!) Anyway, these are easy and functional and she likes them but I need to figure out a way to dress them up a little. They look a little boyish and more than a little homemade. I'll keep tryin!

Long Weekend...

Hello all! Hope you had a great weekend. I keep forgetting that it is already Tuesday! Lee and I got away for a day all by ourselves this weekend. Our anniversary was yesterday (seven years!) so it was nice to spend a little time just the 2 of us. And Sydney had a blast with her grandparents. While we were away I did a little (way too much) fabric shopping. Yikes! Check out all my goodies...

I've talked about it before but this quilt store is the best! Seriously. If you live remotely close you must go. Or you can order online, but it's just not the same. Anyway, it was a lot of fun to go crazy over fabric, but definitely not something I should do very often! To relieve my fabric guilt I will be updating my etsy shop this week with some wonderful new found vintage fabric. See you soon!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my Mom's birthday - happy birthday Mom!! Check out my post from last year. It all still applies, but my feelings seem to multiply as the years go by, especially as my little one grows. It makes my heart swell with pride to read a lovely post like this about her. I am so blessed.

And it's only because of my Mom and her encouragement that I can show you this...

Here goes nothing!

Calling all Fabric Designers

I would like some of this please.

In a nice soft cotton.

In several color ways.

Thanks.

(Photos of a small vintage tablecloth purchased at a garage sale for $1.)

Favorite Friday on a Monday

I've learned something from my time at home with Sydney. Mondays suck regardless of your job. Whether you get up and leave the house, or you mope around in your pj's all day, a Monday is still a Monday. I thought I would share my Favorite Friday today, since I obviously missed Friday, and maybe some Friday will rub off on a Monday and make it seem a little more fun.

So, my favorite for today is great mail from Katherine! We did a little vintage sheet swap and I adore what she sent me!

The most amazing smelling lavender, and some goodies for Sydney. (Sydney is head over heals for this doll. She calls her Rosie and sleeps with her every night. So cute!!)

And here of course is my sheet pile! I love them all and can't wait to cut into them. We exchanged 1/2 yard cuts which is great because she already cut into the sheet for me. The first cut is always the hardest!

And this great fabric card. You know Katherine can make something amazing out of the tiniest piece of scrap. There was also the cutest little patchwork pouch that I somehow forgot to photograph. It's been put to use already in my purse. And this fun paper kit that Katherine picked up thrifting and thought I would put to use - I definitely will! Looks like fun!

Thanks again Katherine!!

Before + After - 7

For my final installment of the Before + Afters (for now anyway!) we are revisiting a previous project. Remember this one? Here's my redo. I think we will go back to the beginning though...

Before - You know this one - a buck at a garage sale.


After - Art that flows a little better in my living room.





The pictures don't really looks that great. In person it has a lot more variation. There must be 20 coats of paint under there so if you look close you can see red and blue popping through and the texture from the stripes of color from my last attempt.


Thanks again for all your Before + After love. I know there will be more in the future. Finding function and beauty in things others will discard is so much fun. It definitely gives you a new eye for potential (and fills up your garage!) If you've never tried anything like this before, buy yourself a can of spray paint and get started!

Before + After - 6

Before - A thrifted house shadow box. A little dirty but full of potential!

After - An adorable new shelf to put in Sydney's room!

Another one of my favorites! This turned out exactly how it looked in my head, which is always exciting! It coordinates with this picture from last week. The process on this project included a lot of sanding, scrubbing, filling lots of holes and cracks and multiple coats of spray paint. I applied the paper to the back using Mod Podge. Cutting the paper for each spot took a while because they were all different sizes and a little wonky - but well worth it I think! It was really hard not to keep this one for myself, but I figure when Sydney gets sick of it I can do a remodel and keep it for myself.

Total cost: $2.00 shadow box from the thrift store + $0 scrapbook paper I had on hand = $2.00

Before + After - 5

Before: Rusty, dirty, ugly brass colored lamp that I picked up last year during Clean-Up week.

After: A shocking green lamp that I am in love with! I was inspired by the awesome red lamp in this post but way too chicken to try red.



This lamp sat in our garage for a year waiting for some inspiration. My husband threatened to throw it away last weekend, saying it was a lost cause and couldn't I find something better? Ha! Now there's motivation for you!! He is, of course, thoroughly impressed with me now. The process included a good rub down with steel wool, a coat of spray primer, then several coats of "Ivy Leaf" spray paint. The lamp did require a little re-wiring which was no big deal (since my husband did it for me, but it really only took about 5 minutes.) And of course a shade, which bothered me to no end that I couldn't come up with some way to make my own instead of buying one. But I think it was worth it.

Total Cost: $0 lamp + $15.00 lamp shade (Target) + $3.00 new wiring and plug-in = $18.00


P.S. This is now my favorite corner in my house. The picture is an old postcard I matted and framed. The little bird tray holding coasters is from a swap with Mary Ann. Uncluttered, but unique - I think that will be my goal for the rest of the house!

Weekend Recap

Thank you all for your sweet comments on my before + afters. I love that you guys love this stuff too! I'm making my best effort to reply to all the comments, but by now you know how much I stink at that so let me just say thank you. You motivated me to get several more B+A's done this weekend which I am super excited about sharing with you.

First though I have to show off my girl! Here she is in her new dress. (It looks much better with no shirt underneath but it was a little chilly here yesterday for that.)

We spent a fun afternoon at the zoo to celebrate Mother's Day. Here are just a couple of my favorite shots from the day.



I hope you all had a special Mother's Day as well. See you tomorrow with a shocking before and after!!

Before + After - 4/Favorite Friday

Happy Friday folks! It just so happens that the B+A for today is also one of my favorites! This may just be my favorite thing I have ever made for Sydney. Check it out...

Before: XXL men's dress shirt I got at the thrift store for $1.

After: Using this tutorial I made Sydney a dress!

It's not quite done yet, I need to make her try it on to check the length before I sew on the bias tape on the hem. And I will be sure to share this with you again when she is wearing it. I was shocked how dressy it looks on. Here's the back.

Obviously the best part about this process is not having to make button holes!! I definitely recommend giving this a try if you have young girls in your house. Super easy and really cute!

Total Cost: $1 for the shirt + $1.25 for 1/2 of a fat quarter (even though I already had it on hand!) = $2.25

Before + After - 3

Before: Boring, old grey cardigan headed for the garage sale pile.
After: An old sweater gets a new life! Little bird pockets make it fun to wear again.

I used this tutorial to make a really nice clean pocket.

Total cost: free! The bird fabric was a gift for my birthday. (Thanks again Sara!)

Before + After - 2

Before: Art purchased for $1 at a garage sale (last year.)

After: New art for my living room?

There's another before here with my tree painting from last year. The trees will come back in the cold months, but I was wanting something a little brighter and more colorful for the warm months. However, I'm not sure I'm there yet. I like the idea in theory, I'm just afraid this doesn't really go with the room. So expect an After, take two on this one!

P.S. The original picture was on Masonite. All I did was spray on a quick coat of primer and got started. The background is the same paint as the wall, but for some reason looks really different in person - I think that's why I don't like it much. I'm off to find the primer and give it another try!

Spring...

Happy Monday folks! So, Spring has finally sprung around here. Snow is nowhere in our forecast for the first time in weeks. In honor of the weather, I thought I would bring back one of my favorite blogging series - the Before and Afters! Remember those? No? Anyway, if you've been reading my blog for a while or you know me personally you may know that once Spring appears I am running outside with a project and a can of spray paint. Spray paint and Spring go hand in hand around here. [Side note, I've tried my hardest to spray paint in the winter - just don't do it. 'Nuf said. I've also tried to convince my husband to build me a ventilated spray booth in our laundry room...he said he's working on it...] We'll start out small with the before and afters and hopefully I can finish up a few more and share them with you this week. Not all will be spray painted, but honestly I love the stuff!

BEFORE: Saved from my Mother in laws donate pile.

AFTER: Cute artwork for Sydney's room.

Cost: About 50 cents for the scrapbook paper (which I only used 1/2 of) so let's called it a quarter!